Endgate for vehicles



Sept. 26, 1939. P. RYAN ENDGATE FOR VEHICLES Filed Nov. 18, 19 38 Snventor Gttorneg Patented Sept. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ENDGATE FOR VEHICLES- Patrick Ryan, Bell, Calif.

Application November 18, 1938, Serial No. 241,230

1 Claim. (Cl. 29651) This inventionrrelates to an end gate for trucks plate, by use of its handle 13 being adapted to be or other vehicles used generally for hauling mamoved upwardly or downwardly in guide-memterials, and has reference particularly to an end bers l5, said guides consisting simply of vertical gate which will facilitate unloading of grain, strips secured to the opposed portions 2) of the gravel and various kinds of small articles of swingable gate-frame, each strip having a transmerchandise, and will operate to advantage for verse curvature to provide a channel 0 for receivunloading or dumping larger articles, such as ng an edge-portion of the slide-plate.

brick, coal or lumber, the parts of the end gate It will be seen that the gate-frame, together to be few and simple and of such arrangement With the slide-plate, may make a complete clothat adjustments will be convenient in operation. ure of the opening ill of the vehicle body, h 10 Th inventi consi t f th w and u ful slide-plate and lower ends of the parts b of the construction, combination and arrangement of gate-frame engaging e te sio w en t parts as described herein and claimed, and as d v is disp s d i s d p t shown in the accompanying drawing, it being All Hi isindicated'a pair of conventional springunderstood that changes may be made in form, latches which are mounted on the gate-frame, 15 size, proportions and minor details, said changes and r l y h y will be pressed into n a ebeing within the scope of the invention as ment w h i -p a their p ng may cl imed, enter the apertures H of the slide-plate for look- In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view ing said plate in a closed position, and when it Showing an end-portion of a vehicle body with is desired to elevate this plate the latches may be 20 an end gate mounted thereon in closed position, l y j ed in a well known manner for n Fig, 2 1 a i m view w t t and gate releasing the latches from the apertures l4.

rem v d, The gate-frame is of such proportion that its Fig. 3 is a side view of a slide-plate for the end P t b Project l e y y nd he Sides of the gate, vehicle body, and pivotally mounted at H, upon 25 Fig, 4 i a br k away id vi w showing a the lateral extensions or projecting parts 11 thereend-portion of the vehicle body, the end gate beof, 1s e P Of t h t bars 8 n er con r l of ing. shown in closed position. pawls l 9 which are mounted on the sides 8 of the Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail, being a section on vehicle body. line 5-5 of Fig 1, showing spring-latch, Numerals 20 indicate a pair of bolts which are 30 Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail being a sectional provided for e lower Pa Of the guide view on line 6-6 of Fig. 1, showing a vertical s 5. and after the endate has b n swun guide for th lid lat and Fig 'z is a id w to closed position these bolts may be moved into on a, reduced scale, showing a, gate-frame apertures 2| which are formed in the GXtGlJSiOIl Referring now to the drawing for a more par- 0f e bott m I. 5

ticular description, thelnvention is described in In Operation, after releasing the bolts, the connection with the bottom I and sides 8 of a gate. ay e swung p y a e e ted dis vehicle body rectangular in cross-section, said y use Of e handle I3 to pe unloading, and body being provided at its rear end with a horithe gate Will beheld in pe Position y the Pall/1S 4o zontal stabilizing strip 9 above its end-opening which engage in the notches of the curved ratch- 40 In, and its bottom being provided with an ext-be so m ving t e end-ga e to ed positension 1' which projects rearwardly of the sides n, he bars B may be manually w n 1D- 8. wardly from the pawls. While only one ratchet- The end gate consists, in part, of a gate-frame bar I8 is shown in the drawing, two of these bars a: of inverted U-shape form, indicated by dotted are p ra ly used, heir mou and opera- 45 lines in Fig, 1, the horizontal upper part a being tion being similar in all respects. However, one mounted to swing from the reinforcing strip 9 f e r tche ar may e dispensed W if of the vehicle body by means of hinges II, the s d. vertical end-portions b of said frame being of It will be understood that when the end-gate m such widths that they normally project laterally is p s d in l sed posi ion, he w r edges beyond the sides 8 of said vehicle body. the gate-frame and slide-plate will engage the Numeral l2 indicates avertically disposed slideuppersurface of the extension 1 of the floor of plate or gate-member provided with a handle I 3 the vehicle body. When unloading or dumping and also provided with numerous, uniformly grain, the small door or slide-plate I2 is elevated spaced vertically arranged apertures l4, said asuitable distance, and the outward sliding movement of said grain will be under control for a part of the load, and thereafter the entire endgate may be elevated so that the remainder of the contents may be removed.

It will be noted that the objectionable vertical ridges and grooves generally used upon the inner surfaces of the vehicle body for a mounting of the end-gate are avoided, and therefore there will be no obstructions for a free movement of the contents while unloading, and when loaded with grain or similar material, leakage will not occur since the parts b of the gate-frame will be pressed against the end-portions of the vehicle body. Also, since there are no obstructions on the bottom I, or upon the inner surfaces of the sides 8 of the vehicle body, these parts may be swept clean and kept in a sanitary condition.

It is believed the use of the end-gate, as described, will be appreciated in the transportation of small grain or similar products for the reason that waste of the load during the operation of dumping may be prevented, the movement or flow of the contents being under control of the adjustable slide-plate.

I claim as my invention:

An end gate for a vehicle body of rectangular form in cross-section having an apertured floor portion extending rearwardly of its sides and a horizontal stabilizing strip above its open end, an elongated gate frame of inverted U-shape having a length greater than the width of the vehicle body, a pair of opposed guide-strips secured to the arms of the gate frame, an elongated gate member provided with a handle and having numerous uniformly spaced apertures in its ends slidably engaging and having a part normally projecting above the ends of the guide-strips, spring latches disposed above the guide-strips and mounted on the gate frame arranged for engaging in selected apertures of the gate-member for securing the latter stationary in adjusted position relative to said gate frame, cooperating fastening means on the stabilizing strip and gate frame to permit the latter to swing to open or closed position, cooperating devices on the vehicle body and gate frame for maintaining said frame in open position at selected inclination, and keepers carried by said gate frame for engaging in the apertures of said floor extension for securing the gate frame in closed position.

PATRICK RYAN. 

